Meaningless Nonsense : The Absence

So, many people have been getting on my back about not posting any normal, interesting things on this site. Well, I finally was able to get back on today. Now I know what you're thinking. Right now, you're probably sitting at home, at your desktop, thinking "Why the hell has he been out for so long? Was he busy? Has he lost interest in his writing side? Did he sustain an injury?". The answer as to why I haven't been able to "blog" in so long is simple - memory. Yes, that's right, memory has prevented me from blogging. Here is my sad story of this procedure. You may need a box of tissues.

One day, I decided it would be a good idea to create a gmail account on google. So I did that, and I linked that account to my blogspot here. I got more involved with college and didn't log on here for awhile. Naturally, I entered my old email address when things at Wilkes cooled down for me a bit. For some reason, I have about 50 different passwords I use (by accident mostly). Needless to say, I had some trouble logging in. Well it turns out, I was entering my yahoo email to log in during that time frame.

Then it hit me. I realized that I changed my email address. It was like a bright light had suddenly shone on me. While snickering and laughing at how silly of a mistake I made, I started entering my gmail address in. Then another problem hit me suddenly. I completely forgot my gmail username and password. A good reason why this happened is probably because I never used it. Whoops, my bad. For the past month or so, I would make an attempt to remember my username and password when trying to sign on here, and it would fail.

I tried everything to log into my blogger. I desired greatly to entertain people around the entire world with my uniqueness and stories. I had trouble sleeping at night knowing that some of my greatest fans would go to sleep without reading any posts by me since I could not log on.

I had to do something different about this. I tried a different approach. This time I got the 'genius' idea of creating a new gmail address. I kept it simple this time. Surely, I would remember the gmail address now. The result was very disappointing. I did actually remember the address and password for the new one. However, that email address was never linked to my blogspot account, and I simply had no way to do that without actually logging in with my old, forgotten username and password. I was beginning to think I was in a catch 22. I even tried to 'hack' into my own gmail account. However, this did not work. I had no idea what my new, unique username could be.

Today, I was inspired and determined to log onto my blogspot. I tried even more attempts for logging in. I was finally able to find the username that was valid for blogspot. However, I still did not know the password. So, I had to reset my account on here. Only problem with that was that I would ultimately need to log into my gmail account, which I did not know the password for. So I went to gmail.com and clicked to reset my password. Then, a little box came up and asked me the answer to the security question I made that fateful night. It read "What was your first phone number?". I chuckled at how easy the question was, and put in my original home phone number. However, there existed a problem. It would not work. Had I been unconscious when I made the new gmail account? I tried entering it with hypens, with and without the area code, with spaces and even parenthesises. No good. I had completely screwed myself on this one. Then I realized, I had two cell phone numbers which I may have used for the question. I entered every possible combination for them, but still had no luck logging in.

Finally, I realized that I had linked my yahoo email on gmail as a secondary email account. Then, I was finally able to send a reset password link to that email address. Then, I logged into yahoo, and clicked the link and reset my gmail password. After all that hard work, here I am now posting to you all about it. It is a indeed a little ironic, but still pretty funny too. I do not want to experience the effects of growing old! ;-)

Importance of Video Games

All right, let's settle the score right here, right now. For all you nay-sayers that believe video games are a waste of time and provide nothing useful to society, you are wrong. Let me list a few reasons why backed up with some real life situations.

Reasons why video games are beneficial to individuals.
1. Video games can make individuals smarter.
- Playing puzzle games and other games that involve making strategical decisions can create more situations in which individuals have to use his or her brain more. This can create neural connections in the brain in which neurons or brain cells are linked together. The more neural connections in the brain there are, the more advanced the whole unit can become. The neurons are able to accommodate more knowledge and link that knowledge throughout the brain.

Neurons are connected and are able to transmit more signals and receive accommodate knowledge (above).

2. Video games teach the importance of teamwork.
-Playing games can make individuals realize the importance of teamwork. Individuals that are struggling achieving a certain task on a video game, can benefit off the teamwork of other individuals playing the same game. They can then communicate and try to work out a strategy like a team to achieve the same goal together. Through this everyone can learn that working together is beneficial and necessary in many real-life situations.

3. Video games can create leadership abilities in individuals.
-Yes, it sounds crazy but think about it. Dictionary.com defines leadership as "an act or instance of leading; guidance; direction:". If someone is good at a game and leads his team to achieve a certain goal by leading by example or command, then he obviously is demonstrating an ability of leadership.

4. Video games can provide for a very fun hobby.
-Sometimes when you feel pushed around from work or school, you can escape from it by playing video games. It's almost as like you're suddenly in a whole different world, exploring different and new things.

5. It's a good to way to socialize with other individuals.
-If there is nothing exciting to do in town or it's a rainy day outside, how much more exciting will playing a video game with friends probably be?

Man Made Meals : Kook Omelette

Here's something new I will be updating. I will start a food recipe section every few posts with a new man made meal created by me. I would like to start the first meal out with a homemade egg omelette recipe. Eggs contain all the essential proteins, minerals and vitamins you need to make it through the day. So let's get creative and kick our morning off with power.

Materials needed to make the Kook Omelette:
-two eggs
-hint of butter
-two slices of American cheese
-salt and pepper
-ham
-bacon bits

1. Obtain a frying pan and pre-heat it on a stove for several seconds on a low temperature
2. Cut a small amount of hard butter and throw the slice in the pan. Spread it around using a knife or spatula. You just need enough butter to get the pan 'slippery' which helps later.
3. Heat up the temperature on the stove to a high temperature.
4. While waiting for the butter to completely melt, crack two eggs into a cup and beat for about 15 seconds.
5. Pour the eggs into the frying pan and wait for about a minute as the stove heats them up.
6. Put two slices of American cheese into the pan (cheddar works good too). For better results, break apart the slices into several smaller pieces and spread around in the pan when putting them in.
7. Throw a few chunks of ham into the frying pan.
8. Add some bacon bits for even more added flavor to the omelette.
9. Shake a few hints of salt and pepper in the omelette.
10. Wait for a minute or two and fold the omelette in half using a spatula. (It's usually best to flip the omelette as soon as the cheese clearly melts inside.)
11. Check underneath the omelette and on top to check how yellow it looks.
Hint: If it is starting to get brown on both sides, then you are finished. If it is brown on one side only, flip the omelette in the frying pan to have the yellow side on the bottom. If the omelette is yellow on both sides, cook until they are both brown.
12. Enjoy.

This meal usually goes best with some orange juice or milk in the morning for breakfast. But, I also like to use it as a nice midnight snack every so often.

My Top 10 Poker Moments of All-time

So, after learning that my vacation days to Turning Stone Casino in New York got approved by Lowe's, I've decided to post my top 10 poker moments of all time for your amusement. Every moment occurred when I was playing Texas Hold'em Poker.

Listing from 10 to 1:

10. Watching the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event in which Chris Moneymaker won the championship. This was when I first started playing Texas Hold'em and started to get addicted to it. My personal favorite moment from this main event is this hand: click here

9. I make an incredible call on Pokerstars to win $26.65 with just a pair of threes, including a pair of nines on the board. The guy continually stabbed at winning the pot with huge bets. On the river he bet over $10 for me to call with just a pair of threes. I put him on a flush draw, and listened to my reading skills and called his bet. He was on a pure stone cold bluff. That was practically the only hand I could of beat there; a huge bluff. I called him and won the pot and amazed everyone in the room.

8. Playing Texas Hold'em with my buddies in my 12th grade trigonometry class with a "custom deck". The deck was made from 13 pieces of copy paper, and was played with because none of us could find a deck of cards in the area. Now that's addiction!

7. Purchasing and reading Phil Hellmuth's poker book, Play Poker Like the Pros. This book greatly helped me improve my poker game and understanding. I would recommend to it any poker player.

6. Playing in a huge 16 man tournament at my house with my brother and his college friends, I was playing at a table with my brother. I had a good amount of chips and was in decent position and raised with Ace Eight of diamonds. My brother raised my bet a huge amount, and I debated for a long amount of time and called the bet. The flop came down eight of hearts, and two lower diamonds. My brother bet to me, and I raised, in which he went all-in. I called the bet putting him on pocket tens. I knew I had the lower hand at the moment but knew that an ace, eight, or a diamond would win me the hand. My chances of drawing a card to win me the hand was roughly around 30% on each the turn and river. My brother actually had pocket jacks on that hand. A blank came on the turn, but I was ecstatic to see that the river card was a diamond, and I made my flush to beat my brother. I knocked him out of the tournament and he was very upset with the decision I made to call his bet there with a pair and draw. However, I would re-do that move a billion times in that situation. Especially, since I had a good idea at what he had.

5. Continually putting my brother's friend, Mark, on tilt in different tournaments at my house. I purposely showed him hands I previously played to get him confused when I actually played against him in the hand. I often did the opposite of what he was expecting, and I took many of his chips when he was playing poorly due to frustration. Mark even admits to being on tilt because of me several times. Click here for a definition of tilt.

4. The same exact guy from the 3rd top poker moment was in a different tournament with me. I had Jack Queen of Hearts and called a bet from the same player to see a flop. I was instantly pleased with the flop when I saw that it was 8, 9, 10 of hearts. I had flopped a straight flush, and I slow-played the hand hoping someone else would bet. Well, my online arch-rival from top moment #3 did all the betting for me. He bet on the flop, turn, and river. The last card was another heart, and he bet a huge amount to which I raised him all-in. He auto-called and auto-lost the hand. He actually had the ace of hearts and a 10, and was crushed big time when he lost the hand with an ace-high flush to my straight flush.



3. One time a guy online who shall remain nameless was criticizing my play. He called me a "fish" in a tournament for making a call on a bet that was actually well justified with correct odds. I caught on him in that hand, and won a nice pot, and argued with him online in the chatbox on Pokerstars. I automatically developed a hunger to take him out and when I was dealt pocket Jacks I raised to see him call. The flop came down 9, 3, 8 and I bet to which he automatically overbet the pot and went all-in. I debated thinking that perhaps he had Ace-nine suited or something like Ace-Eight suited, and I called the bet. He had pocket tens. Another person called our all-in bets with pocket eights and I needed to draw a jack on the turn or river to win. Neither person expected a Jack to come on the river and I beat his three-of-a-kind with my higher three-of-a-kind. I laughed for several minutes when this happened as he was eliminated from the tournament by me. Revenge was served on a very cold dish that day.


2. I once turned a $2 money transfer online from my brother on Pokerstars into $150 in about a month after winning numerous big hands in cash games and tournaments.

1. Just after turning 18, I took a trip to Turning Stone Casino in New York where it is okay to gamble at the age of 18. My family took me and I played an entire day at the cash Texas Hold'em tables. I showed up at the table with $100. I left the cash table after 4 or 5 hours with close to $390. At one point, I actually had close to $600 but lost a good amount bluffing a hand or two. I'll never forget this poker moment to me, especially since I was sporting a cool but intimidating look. I was wearing sunglasses over my eyes, and on the tip of my nose I had my glasses on.

Top Twenty-Five Driving Songs

So, it seems like I'm driving a lot now these days. And of course, I'm the kind of person who can't listen to silence in a car. I'd probably lose my mind. I actually use to have a Volkswagen with a broken radio. I got so fed up of not having music, that I actually would play my iPod and put my headphones in my ears while driving. Yes, not my smartest ideas, I know. But that's just how so important music is to me when driving, lol. It's so important that I actually decided to make a top 25 list of driving songs of old and newer songs. Here it is.

1. Radar Love - Golden Earring (Nothing beats the awesome drum beat in this song)
2. Flirtin' with Disaster - Molly Hatchet
3. Paint it Black - Rolling Stones (Everyone in the car can't help but hum the ending together)
4. Fuel - Metallica (Give me Fuel, give me Fire!!!)
5. Man in the Box - Alice in Chains
6. In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins
7. Highway Star - Deep Purple
8. Highway to Hell - AC/DC (Great for driving late at night on a highway)
9. Panama - Van Halen
10. Kickstart My Heart - Motley Crue
11. Life in the Fast Lane - The Eagles
12. Paradise City - Guns N' Roses (Take me down to Paradise City)
13. Authority Song - John Mellencamp (Great for running away from the Police)
14. Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
15. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
16. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
17. Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty
18. Layla - Derek and the Dominos (Great guitar playing)
19. More Than a Feeling - Boston
20. I Can't Drive 55 - Sammy Hagar
21. Legs - ZZ Top
22. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2 (This song is a real spirit lifter)
23. Waitin' on a Sunny Day - Bruce Springsteen
24. Sex Type Thing - Stone Temple Pilots (Too BA to pass up)
25. All Around the World - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Colt shows up against the Colts

I was able to watch the Redskins beat the Colts Sunday night during the Hall of Fame game. I must say that I was impressed with one certain player; backup quarterback Colt Brennan. The 6th round draft pick from Hawaii showed a lot of energy, poise and throwing accuracy. When I heard that the Redskins drafted Colt, I was very pleased. I was satisfied because Colt is the type of player that gives 110% and is a team player. He set records in Hawaii. Many people are questioning his ability to play in the big game. But, I really think this kid might be able to be a starting quarterback in a few years. He brings a lot of energy to the team.

Colt completed 9 out of 10 passes during the pre-season game Sunday night and threw two touchdown passes. Also, on one pass Colt "threaded the needle" between a free safety from the Colts and hit his receiver right on the money. He also was a factor outside of the pocket as he rolled out a several times on a few passing plays. Colt has some great potential and I will not be shocked if he is eventually starting for the Washington Redskins. Of course, since it was pre-season, he was throwing against some 2nd and 3rd string defensive players. However, I think he made some fantastic plays that any defense wouldn't be able to defend against. Below are highlights taken from the game of Colt Brennan. Try to observe the amount of energy he brings to the table, and take a look at his accuracy as he made some great throws in some very tight windows. Those are traits you can't teach.

2008-09 NFL Season Arriving

The 2008 NFL season is already almost here. Tonight actually starts the beginning of the pre-season for the NFL 2008-09 season. My team, the Washington Redskins, will battle the Indianapolis Colts at 8PM tonight in the hall of fame pre-season match up. As a Redskins fan, I am somewhat pumped for the game. I know this game is the first game of pre-season which means the regular season is very close to starting. However, let's face it, pre-season isn't really that important. The record doesn't affect anything at all for the regular season. I've seen undefeated teams in the pre-season win a whooping 4 out of 16 regular season games, and have also seen winless teams in the pre-season go very far in the playoffs. I am a little excited to see that my team made the Hall of Fame game though. I'll be able to get a look and feel at how well some of our new rookies are. I'm anxious to see which rookie receiver out of Devin Thomas and Malcom Kelly will perform better, and I sure can't wait to see LaRon Landry make some mind-blowing hits on his victims. I also believe that the Skins offense will produce a lot of points and gain a lot of yards. I'm ready to see my favorite player, Chris Cooley make some nice catches this year. He should have a lot pressure taken off him from opposing defenses with the additions of Malcom Kelly, Devin Thomas and Fred Davis. My expectations for this season are mid of the range I suppose. I would like to see a playoff appearance for my team again this year, but am aware that there is a new coach in Washington. Coach Jim Zorn definitely looks like he is going to stress passing the ball more. I wouldn't be shocked if the Redskins call more pass than run plays even with Pro-Bowl running back Clinton Portis on the team. It should be an interesting season and I'm pumped for it to begin. To share my enthusiasm, I will share a video of Chris Cooley's Fantasy Football Profile. Enjoy.

Meaningless Nonsense: Bearded Tales

Nearly every guy has experimented with facial hair. Facial hair can make a unique statement about yourself. For example, full beards tend to give a more rugged look to a man. This sends a message of strength and power. I mean, Chuck Norris has a full beard, and no one ever questions his power or integrity. Chuck Norris once shot down a German plane by pointing his finger at it and yelling "BANG!" (Sorry, had to throw in a Chuck Norris joke there). More can be read about facial hair here.

I have experimented with many different beard styles in my life. I have tried to grow a full beard (didn't turn out too great), and even experimented with a mustache (also didn't turn out too great). Today, most guys that have facial hair, have either a goatee, mustache or both. I always wanted to be different than most guys and try to sort of make a unique statement about myself with something a little more creative. So, I thought to myself that you normally don't see too many guys with the "soul patch". This facial hair style is facial hair that's under the bottom lip. It is also known as the "flavor savor". I tried out this look, and I was instantly sold. It's easy to grow and trim, looks nice, and as silly as it sounds, it gives me confidence. It has a look that adds a little bit of boldness I think. People often tell me that I look like Tommy Lee from Motley Crue banging away at the drums in a concert surrounded by beautiful women when I'm wearing the soul patch (well not really ever, but I like to imagine that sometimes).

There's no doubt that different facial hair styles have different meanings. Let's review some different styles quickly.

The Full Beard: Adds a masculine, rugged look to the wearer. Conveys a statement of power and strength.
Famous users of the Full Beard - Chuck Norris, Geico Caveman
Characteristics portrayed - Strength, Power

The Goatee: This style often gives the wearer a different look with authority. It still presents a look of masculinity, but at times when it is trimmed very neat, it adds a look of maturity to the user. When you shave a goatee off anyone, normally they look a lot younger afterwards.
Famous users of the Goatee - Dog the Bounty Hunter, Mark McGwire
Characteristics portrayed - Authority, Maturity

The Mustache: This facial hair above the upper lip is generally the first facial hair that is grown by a male around his early teenage years. Usually it conveys a well-groomed manner to the user.
Famous users of the Mustache - Edgar Allan Poe, Super Mario
Characteristics portrayed - Neatness, Growth

The Soul Patch: The soul patch adds a some boldness to the user. It also gives the wearer a unique sense of style and comfort.
Famous users of the Soul Patch - Tommy Lee, Steve Vai
Characteristics portrayed - Boldness , Uniqueness

The Chin Curtain: This beard often gives the user an old fashioned style of look. It often gives the wearer a nice mild-mannered sense about him.
Famous users of the Chin Curtain - Abraham Lincoln, The Amish
Characteristics portrayed - Mild, Gentle

Here below are a few pics of me with different beard styles to show the different looks each one accompanies to give a few examples.



Notice below the difference with a clean shaved look as compared with the others. The clean shaved look gives a plain, clean and neat look to the user.



Clean

What is the real meaning of life?

Life (ˈlīf) noun: the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body.

The preceding sentence was taken directly from Merriam-Webster. It is described as the definition of life. By all means, that definition is 100% true. But what exactly is this 'quality' they describe that separates a vital being from a dead one? It is hard to even think of an answer for this quality, let alone describe it. What is life, and what is the true meaning of it? These were questions that briefly came about in my head after seeing my close uncle's wake earlier on Tuesday. You see, when someone dies that we are close to, we tend to think of experiences from the past with that individual. These experiences we relive in our head, are often ones that make us laugh or smile. And when you think about the goofy or funny things you use to do with that individual, and come back to reality of their death, it triggers a harsh learning that you will never get to have those moments with that certain individual again. Often at times, this 'learning' causes one to feel emotions of sadness, depression and a sense of unbelievable terror. This is very normal. Sometimes we learn that someone died and rarely cry and seem very stable and learn to accept with this fate. Then when you see that individual dead, those memories come rushing back and it all hits you like a ton of a bricks and you can't help but bawl your eyes out like a big baby even if you told yourself you wouldn't cry. The memories we have still bring happiness, which occurred during life, but the sadness we feel after realizing those memories cannot be repeated occur during the individual's death. Life and funny memories connect with feelings of happiness and amusement. It is death and losing someone close that brings about sadness. This example brings me to my belief on life. I believe life is all about experiencing happiness and enjoying life to the fullest. Sometimes life can be short, so it's best to take full advantage of achieving happiness.

How can we really achieve and experience happiness though? It's very simple. Be yourself, don't be ashamed of all your awesome qualities, do what you do best and feel most comfortable, don't hold back and happiness is right around the corner. It's easy to say when we are confused, scared or unsure about something, it generally is not a happy experience. The same can be said about life. However, sometimes life throws us curve balls and gives us lemons. We just have to realize how to get past those obstacles, and realize that when we overcome those hurdles, that we have become stronger and more experienced. The more experience one gains, the more knowledge he or she will also gain. The more knowledge one has, the less confused one is. Therefore, he or she is likely to be less unhappy.

Life is about remembering the good times, and embracing the feelings of joy and happiness that accompany. Think about it. Why would one want to hold grudges and be miserable all their life just to die at the end? Wouldn't it just make sense to laugh and smile more while being grateful for experiencing this 'unexplainable quality' of life? That's the meaning of life. The meaning of life is to enjoy it while we are here, and overcome those hard times that somehow mold us into a stronger person. I know that's what my uncle did. He still found light out of life and smiled, joked and laughed despite fighting lung cancer. If you can bring happiness out of some of the worst situations then you can still make your life feel worthwhile. I finally found a quality that separates me from a non-vital being. The quality of my smile and happiness.

The Halo Zone

So as many of know, one of my favorite hobbies is to play video games. I especially love to play shooting, sport and strategic video games. Perhaps my favorite video game of all-time is Halo 3. Ever since the Halo legacy started with Halo for the original Xbox, I constantly played the game non-stop. I can't even tell you how many times I beat the first Halo on Legendary mode. My thumbs probably had the strongest muscles in my entire body during this point. I eventually started to try to beat each level on legendary without losing a life in the level. I was able to beat three levels like that. I always was very good at Halo, and normally did outstanding in multi-player matches against my friends. Eventually Halo 2 came out, and I started to focus on being better in online multi-player matches. I started out very strong, but noticed there were many better players than me that I struggled against to beat. I continued to play Halo 2, and become a lot better. I usually was 1st or 2nd on my team in the ranked matches online, but I noticed there were times where I would get completely owned. I felt like I was missing something. I was missing a feel for the game. Although I normally did great, there were times I was very inconsistent. When I purchased Halo 3 last year, I was unsure of how great my skill would be. I started to play online and was consistently good. It seemed my sniping level and my team tactics were still pretty good. But again, there were times when I was shaky and inconsistent. Well eventually, I shook off that inconsistent play. Now, I have seemed to step into something different. I stepped into the Halo Zone. When I am in this zone, enemies do not intimidate me. Huge weapons like the rocket launcher make me laugh when I see an enemy using it. My sniping skill has just become almost automatic, and I seem to be almost invincible at times. I know I sound stupid and cocky, but that's how it seems. I'm just telling it how it is. The last 30 or so games I played online, my kill to death ratio has been at least 2.00. So, what I did was I created a montage to share some of my greatest Halo 3 video clips. I do not have the greatest video editor, but it was free. Lol, take a look at my montage and tell me what you think. I also have at least 30 more clips that I have not loaded to my computer yet which may be used for a future montage. The music is "Hysteria" by Muse. Enjoy.

Life's Mysteries: Destiny and Fate

Imagine you're calmly walking on a sidewalk of a street, when suddenly a car spinning out of control with locked up brakes veers directly into you and sends you air-borne! What happened? Better question, how did it happen? We know that the brakes on the car locked up, but what are the chances for the car to hit that exact particular spot where you are walking while spinning recklessly in many directions? We can conclude that the odds of that happening are very slim. But was the cause of this result in this situation, a cause of the ultimate agency called destiny predetermining events to lead to the result, or just a case of bad luck? Perhaps that is a question we can never really know the answer too.

Many people believe in destiny, and that things in life are laid out for us, almost like a map. This map we cannot alter. Things fall into place and outcomes are set up by some higher power usually. For example, perhaps it was destiny if a male were to run past a stop light that was red while driving and smash into a car who turned out to be a female driver he thought was absolutely beautiful and irresistible and eventually married. In that situation, maybe the male was meant to get into an accident to meet the love of his life. Indeed, this is an extreme case of destiny, but sometimes things happen that we have no control over. A sequence of uncontrollable events can lead us to an outcome such as falling into love, getting hired at a job, achieving your greatest dream imaginable or death. The thought of such a strong uncontrollable power can often be scary, however. Surely, most of us want some type of control in our life, right? Maybe so, but often there are some things in life which we have no control over, and cannot explain how or why it happened but just know it happened. Maybe it happened for a reason, but one cannot be really 100% sure.

The opposite of the preceding idea of destiny controlling our lives, is the thought that we create our own fate or destiny. In this lifestyle, we have more control in our lives and are not constantly being pulled away from a strange power. One who tends to believe in this idea, also believes a lot in luck too usually. Perhaps people are not destined to become something they have no control over. If a boy has five people in his family that are doctors and is really good at science, does this mean that he is meant to be a doctor? Maybe it does, but many people might believe that the boy can become whatever he wants even if all signs point to him being a doctor. If people can create their own destiny, they are not always "doomed" to being unhappy from a uncontrollable certain situation.

Either of these two ideas can be right, but what about the third idea? The blended idea that our destiny is predetermined but yet still possesses a level of control that humans have. I believe that life is predetermined in many ways. There are certain things in life we have no control over. Whether it may be running into the love of our life 'accidentally', or having bad genes for health concerns. However, I also believe that we still have power as humans to try and overcome these predetermined events. For example, by trying to take care of one's body eating and exercising properly, we can overcome health issues. I believe life is like a map with different pathways on it to our end result. We can choose our own path, but often at times, something unexpected shows up along the way which can be good or bad.

Meaningless Nonsense: The Story Behind the Name

I decided that after every several posts, I will post a "meaningless nonsense" section, which explains a random stupid fact about me. I can just sense how excited you are all! Lol, but seriously, I am just adding these in here for amusement purposes really. Today, I will talk about the meaningless story behind my AIM name and Xbox gamertag; Pistolkid. The name originated when I was in 8th grade. At that time, I recently got a computer. I was looking for a cool AIM name which sounded cool and wasn't just my name and age after it. I experimented with a few names before finding one I really liked. My first attempt of an awesome AIM name was "ViperVenom004". Now, some people actually like that name, but it had no real meaning to me really. To me, it sounded like a random name that I was trying too hard to sound cool with. The number 004 had no meaning to me either. It was just the first available number for the name ViperVenom. Seriously, what the hell kind of a name is ViperVenom004? I mean, I have nothing to do with vipers or snakes. No one has ever called me a snake. And the last time I checked, I don't go around spitting poison in random people's eyes, or have I ever played the villian 'Venom' in Spiderman 3. So, shortly after the creation of ViperVenom, I had purchased a James Bond video game; Agent under Fire. Now, I was even more determined to get a cool name I could use for the video game. I loved playing Agent under Fire so much, that I beat the game several times. I found out that I enjoyed one thing especially in the game. Playing the missions using only my pistol. I took much amusement going around all stealthy with the pistol and firing one shot in my enemies' faces. (Note to the FBI: If you are reading this, I am just talking about a game!) Anyway, nothing was more funny seeing my enemies holding huge shotguns and machine guns and just drop to one shot from a pistol! During multi-player games with my brother and cousins, they constantly complained of me using the pistol non-stop. Then the ideas started to storm around in my head for a new name.

I was looking to purchase a game for my computer called Counter-Strike and still was without a cool sounding name. So one day, I took a pencil and notebook and brainstormed for about 3 hours. I finally came up with the name of 'Pistol', a prototype for the eventual real name. I experimented using Pistol in video games. It felt like it had a nice short and sweet sound about it, almost like 'Blade' or 'Laser'. But there was something else missing to me in the name. It sounded like it needed to be a tad longer. So I debated of names to add to the end of Pistol. Finally, the word 'Kid' stuck out to me. The snazzy sound of the name was just so attractive to me. Pistolkid. It was a name that had authority and action. A name of recklessness and rage. A name with pure dominance and supremacy. It was a name that sounded pretty cool to me at least. When I wanted to add numbers to my AIM name, it was clear to me that 007 was the most viable option. The result of using the name was most beautiful. Many frustrated gamers would ask "Who is going around using the pistol to kill?" only to hear the answer of a bullet from 'Pistolkid'.

Oh, and ViperVenom is still actually used today by me, in my fantasy baseball team called "Vicious Viper Venom".

Welcome!

Hello everybody! So, I decided to create a blogger out of pure boredom. Ahh, where to begin? I guess I'll just kind of throw it all out there in a nice blend. As many of you know, my name is Kurt Kuklewicz. I'm the kind of the guy who likes to have a good time and enjoy life. Currently I am going to Wilkes University and studying Computer Information Systems, and Biology. (Sounds like a weird combo, I know) There's actually a good amount of occupations you can combine the two with. I'm not sure yet, but I think I want to go to Graduate School after receiving my Bachelor's degree at Wilkes. I also have a job working at Lowe's in Wilkes Barre, PA. I work in the Millwork department with doors and windows as a customer service associate. My main objective of the job is to topstock and downstock doors, windows and ceiling panels. Frequently I assist customers by ordering special doors. To sum it up, I like the job. Sometimes it can get a little nerve-wracking, for example, when I'm the only person working in the department on a Friday night and there is a line of customers in front of the desk demanding assistance. Heh, that has happened to me on many, many occasions, but it's all good. It makes the time go by faster.

My life outside of work and school, involves hanging out with my friends, shooting pool, playing poker and video games, weight-lifting, listening to music and many other activities. On occasion I like to read and write. I also like pretty much any kind of music. When I'm driving in my car though, I usually prefer to listen to something with an awesome heavy drum beat like "Before I Forget" by Slipknot. Southern rock works wonders for driving too I think. Actually, to make things easier for this first post, I'm just going to write down a few random facts about me.

Name: Kurt Kuklewicz
Hometown: Wilkes Barre, PA
Occupation: Full Time Student (Wilkes University)
Part Time Customer Service Associate (Lowe's)
Favorite Music: Rock or Metal
Favorite Sports Team: Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Penguins
Favorite Cereal: Trix or Fruit Loops
Favorite Beverage: Stewart's Root Beer
Favorite Snack: Jack Daniels Peppered Beef Jerky
Favorite Magazine: Men's Health
Favorite Book: 1984
Xbox Live Gamertag: Pistolkid
Top 3 Favorite Bands in no order:
- Metallica
- Motley Crue
- Breaking Benjamin
Hobbies:
- Hanging out with friends
- Playing video games
- Shooting Pool
- Bowling
- Golfing
- Watching pro football and hockey
- Trying to take care of my body
- Board games